Orkney is an archipelago off the North Coast of Mainland Scotland. Orkney is mostly low lying and treeless and sit is some of the fiercest oceans in the world. People come to Orkney to holiday for many reasons, but often to enjoy diving, bird watching, archaeology or sheer peace and quiet.

Confusingly, the main island of Orkney is called Mainland. This is the location of Orkney’s two main towns, Kirkwall and Stromness. It is divided into two parts called East Mainland and West Mainland with Kirkwall at the mid point between the two and Stromness at the South Western corner of West Mainland. Historically, Stromness has seen periods of boom with long slumps between them. Initially selected as a Hudsons Bay Company base (when the company set up here in 1670 there were only 13 houses) a stopping off point for sea traffic driven away from the Channel by European wars and a centre for whaling . Stromness was a thriving herring port in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, the exhaustion of Northern whale stocks, the advent of peace and steamships and the decline of herring all took their toll. Orkney had a resurgence in both Worlds Wars with Stromness becoming the HQ of the Orkney and Shetland Defences. Ness Battery, to the South of the town is built on the site of earlier batteries and is the only one in the UK to retain much of its original wooden accommodation.

Stromness provides the ferry terminal for the link to Thurso on the Scottish Mainland. Whilst fishing and seafood processing are still important to the town, marine energy is increasingly so with EMEC, the European Marine Energy Centre and several marine renewables companies based there. Indeed the whole West coast of Orkney is planned to become a marine energy farm in the coming decades. Stromness’ main holiday activity in summer is recreational diving, with many dive boats based in the harbour and two dive shops in the town to support them. One, Scapa SCUBA, runs a PADI training centre and organises regular try-dives for tourists at the Churchill Barriers between the North and South Isles. Only basic swimming ability and sound health is necessary to sample some of the clearest, cleanest waters in Europe with fantastic marine life. For experienced divers the German High Seas Fleet wrecks offer a unique chance to visit multiple capital ships on the seabed. For those wanting something more sedate, Stromness has a golf course, sailing club and yacht marina and a small but well equipped sports centre with pool.

Stromness is a beautiful town with much of its 19th century charm intact. It has an excellent new arts centre and a great museum with a terrific collection of natural history and historical artefacts. The Hudsons Bay Company years are represented, as is whaling and the expeditions of the renowned Orcadian explorer, John Rae. There are several hotels and restaurants and anyone visiting Stromness should pay at least one visit to Julia’s Bistro opposite the ferry terminal. There are wonderful views across to the Hills of Hoy and some of the tallest cliffs in the United Kingdom. Around Stromness are pastures, links and beautiful beaches to visit. Stromness is a great base to explore the Orkney Mainland. One option is to stay at excellent Orkney self catering, with wonderful views over the town and Scapa Flow.

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